Moete
Moete is the capital city and largest city in the Province of Nihaton, Darnussia. Spared from most of the ill effects of the Deimore Incident, it became the de facto capital and center of the Shirmania Clean-up efforts. History of Moete Moete was founded in ancient times, in the river valley which bears the same name. The fertile soil, abundant rainfall, and easy access to the sea made Moete one of the most powerful and stable of the early Shirmanian city-states. The name itself comes from the Moetian dialect of proto-Shirmanian; the name translates as "Rich Soils." Despite the relative wealth of Moete, its position was less than ideal from a military perspective. As a result, it was a very tempting target for both domestic and foreign invasions and raids throughout the early city-state period. Ultimately, it was forced to become a tributary of Ansest, then Narik, after a failed Alkron invasion in 130 BCE brought devastation. Scholars now credit the Third Moete-Alkron War as one of the triggers for the formation of Darnussia. In the mid 700s CE, a third attempt by the Alkrons to gain a foothold in Shirmania ended when a joint Nariki-Shirmanian force pushed the Alkrons off the island; the Alkron invasion led directly to Darntus the Flying's First Campaign in modern Alkavon. During the Unification War, the Af Enjnhelms of Merenberg took the city from the Raux family, bringing it under Darntus' rule. Moete became the capital city of the Duchy of Shirmania, and later remained capital of Nihaton after the Duchy was split, a distinction it has held continuously to the present day. Rampant urbanization of the Moete-Jasper corridor has made the Northeastern Metropolis centered at Moete the largest (by area) continuous urban corridor in the nation. Despite this, most of this urban corridor is of very low density, with a mixture of single family homes and small apartment complexes dominating the area; the Moete skyline is perhaps the most uninteresting major city skyline in all of Terra, with exceptionally few buildings taller than ten stories, due to soft soil beneath the urban center, and local weather and seismic conditions making skyscraper construction generally implausible. People and Population Moete is generally recognized as the national center of knowledge, having hosted the University of Moete since 914 CE. Simply called "The University," its distinctive eleven colleges have long been the most important and most respected in the nation; to this day, the University produces a plurality of most highly educated professionals, and an outright majority when it comes to specialized areas of law, politics, and finance. Moete, as capital of Nihaton, has an undeserved reputation for military cowardice. In fact, Moete has produced several distinguished military leaders over the centuries, and has produced army and navy officers at near the national per-capita rate, a rate that actually slightly exceeds that of "proud Narikaton." During the aftermath of the Deimore Incident, Moete briefly became the nation's most populous city, as it was the place best able to absorb large numbers of Clenese refugees, and a large influx of laborers from the mainland.